This menu item will open the help file and take you to the main table of contents.
This menu item will open the help file and take you to the last topic viewed.
Using Help z
Use the F1 key for context sensitive help most anywhere in Dialog Design. Once in Help, the following keys may be used:
Alt-C Bring up the Help contents
Alt-B Go back to the previous viewed Help screen
F5 Screen zoom (toggle)
Esc Exit Help
See Acknowledgements
Toolbox
The toolbox provides a quick method for adding controls to the dialogbox. If the toolbox isn't visible, toggle it on with Ctrl-F6. The toolbox may be repositioned by dragging its caption bar. 6
To add a control using the toolbox click and release on the appropriate icon with the left button. The control will pop off the toolbox and follow the mouse. When you reach the desired location, click once more to drop the control. At this point, the mouse will be properly positioned to size the control.
If you pick up a control from the toolbox and then decide not to use it, drop it outside of the dialog or move the mouse off screen. ;
From top to bottom, left to right, the control icons are:
TInputLine TStaticText
TInputLong TButton
TCheckboxes TListBox
TRadioButtons TScrollbar (Vertical)
TMemo TScrollbar (Horizontal)
TLabel and TMultiCheckBoxes have no representation in the toolbox. f
Once you've added controls from the toolbox, you'll need to edit them to supply further information.
Designing a Dialogbox S
While there is no fixed way to design a dialogbox, here's one suggested sequence: V
1.In design
mode, work with the dialogbox large enough so that you won't be crowded.
2.From the Add menu, select a control to add. This will bring up a dialog where you can enter the necessary information. Use the online help (F1 key) if you have a question as to what goes in a particular field. When the OK button is pressed, the control will appear in the lower right corner of the design box. The control is then positioned by dragging it with the mouse, or by using the arrow keys (Shift+arrow moves a little faster). Work in the upper left corner of the box. !
3.Continue adding controls as desired. At any time, controls can be repositioned or sized with the mouse. If something other than position or size needs changing, select the control and from the Edit menu choose Edit Selected (or use F7). This will bring up its dialogbox for changes.
4.When all the controls have been added and positioned, size the box to fit and move it to the desired location on the desktop. Be sure and add a title (Dialog Parameters from the Edit menu).
5.Enter Try
Mode with the F9 key and test the dialogbox. Be sure to check how the controls sequence using the Tab key. Exit Try mode with Esc or click on the close box.
6.If the Tab sequence needs changing, use F8 to enter ordering
mode. With the mouse, click on each control to establish the desired order. Exit back to design mode with F8. "
Changing the sequence without a mouse is a little more complicated. Use the Tab key to select (highlight) the next control to be sequenced. Then press the Enter key to enter the selected control into the sequence. After all controls have been entered, exit back to design mode with F8.
Some controls (such as Static Text, and Labels) don't enter into the tab sequence of a dialogbox. You can order these if it's convenient, but the order won't effect the final results. /
Be sure to recheck the tab order in Try
mode.
7.This is a good time to save your work. Choose Save or Save As from the File menu to create or update a .DLG file. Any file with the same name will be renamed with a .BKP extension.
8.You can preview the source code to be generated by choosing one of the Write Source selections from the Operations menu, and then selecting the Screen option. The code will appear in a viewer window.
9.To create source code for your dialogbox, choose one of the Write
Source selections from the Operations menu and then choose the File option.
10.To generate a resource file or add the new dialogbox to an existing resource or EXE file, choose Write
Resource
File from the Operation menu.
Design Mode
Dialog Design begins in design mode and this is the mode that you use for all layout work and editing. In design mode, the dialogbox doesn't look or act quite like it will in the final design. Here's some of the differences: ^
A 'canvas' background is used to better delineate the actual space occupied by each control. )
Controls are colored red when selected. $
Multiple controls may be selected. B
All controls may be selected even those not normally selectable.
Dialog Parameters
Allows entering/changing the title of the dialog box and other dialogbox parameters.
The Dialog's title is entered here.
See also: 0
Entering
Non-Keyboard
Characters
Operator
When Dialog Design writes type 1 code for your dialog, it writes a function named MakeDialog by default. You can specify another name here. h
If the function will be used as a method, you can precede the function name with the object's name as: C
TMyProgram.MakeFileDialog or
TMyProgram::makeFileDialog
When Dialog Design writes code for a dialogbox, it defines a record/struct to be used with the dialogbox's SetData and GetData methods. By default, the name 'DataRec' is used. M
To eliminate name conflicts, you may want to change the name in this field. <
If you don't desire a data record, leave this field blank.
By default, this field contains PDialog/TDialog. If this dialog is to be a descendent of TDialog (as it would be if you're using type 2 code generation), enter the new pointer name/class name here.
Enter any reminder notes here (up to 512 characters).
Enter the key string that will identify this dialog in a resource file. Note that this string is case sensitive. Spaces are not permitted.
Choose the palette for the dialog here.
The standard flag settings for a dialog are wfMove and wfClose but you can change these for special cases.
Edit Selected
Allows editing the selected control.
Delete Selected
Deletes the selected control or controls.
Duplicates the selected control. The new control will appear directly below the copied control. S
To duplicate a control using the mouse, hold the Ctrl key down and left click it.
Select All (F4)
Selects all the controls.
To select most of the controls in the dialog, it's usually easiest to select them all and then, holding down the shift key, unselect those not wanted by clicking on them with the mouse.
See also Selecting
Controls.
Selecting Controls
A single control may be selected with the mouse by clicking on it. To select a control with the keyboard, use Tab or ShiftTab until it is highlighted.
To select multiple controls, select the first, then hold down the shift key while clicking on the others. Note that, in this mode, clicking toggles selection on and off so it's possible to deselect as well as select. +
You can also select a block of controls by using the mouse to define an enclosing rectangle. Position the mouse to one corner of the desired rectangle (the start position must not be on a control). Hold the left button down and drag to the opposite corner of the rectangle before releasing the button. During the drag operation, a shaded area will show the rectangle. Only those controls completely enclosed by the rectangle will be selected. If the shift key is held down during this operation, any previously selected controls will remain selected. K
To select all controls, use F4 or choose 'Select All' from the Edit menu.
Resizing a Control
To resize a control, first select it and then click and drag on its lower right corner. Note that some controls only size in one dimension and all have a minimum size. i
You can also change a control's size by changing the width and height fields in the control's edit
box.
Editing a Control
To edit a control, click on it with the right button. Or select it with the Tab key and press F7. Either way brings up the control's Add/Edit dialog.
Moving Controls
To move controls, select the controls to be moved, then click on any one of them and, without releasing the button, drag the group to the desired position. 3
The group may also be moved using the arrow keys.
When Dialog Design writes code for a dialogbox, it defines a record to be used with the dialogbox's SetData and GetData methods. This entry is the name for this control's field in that record. Initially, a unique symbol of the form FieldXXX is generated here. You will probably want to change the ID to something that better describes the field.
The help context identifier and value are entered here. Alternatively, if you have loaded a help
context
definition
file, click on the '*' (or type '*' in the help context field) to bring up a pick list of choices.
Once a help context symbol is entered, the help value can be automatically kept current by loading the .DLG file along with the updated help context definition file.
Help Context Definition File
If you will be using a context sensitive help file, the definition file may be read in using the menu selection Options/Help Ctx File or it may be read in at program start by making the appropriate selections under Options/Configure. You will then be able to select help context ID's from a pick list when adding controls to the dialogbox.
This file should be in the format generated by Borland's help compiler, TVHC. For demonstration purposes, try DEMOHELP.PAS/DEMOHELP.H (normally in the TVDEMO directory).
Once a help context symbol is entered for a control, Dialog Design automatically updates the help value for the control whenever an updated help context file is loaded.
By default, the proper pointer name/class name for the standard TVision control is already entered in this field. If you wish to use a derived control similar to one of the TVision controls, change this name to that for your control. The name entered will be used when generating the dialogbox source code. Depending on what changes you've made, you may also have to do some editing of the generated source code. c
Please be aware that only standard TVision controls can be used if a resource is to be generated.
The button's command ID and value are entered here. Alternatively, click on the '*' (or type '*' in the Command field) to bring up a pick list of common choices.
Enter the button text here.
See also: 0
Entering
Non-Keyboard
Characters
Operator
Enter the width here. If 0 is entered, Dialog Design will set the width to fit the text.
Up to 255 characters may be entered. For a short text selection, entering all on a single line is appropriate. For longer texts, you may want to indicate where line breaks should occur. a
See also: Entering
Non-Keyboard
Characters but note that ^C has special meaning to TStaticText.
Operator
You can specify the field width and height here but usually the easiest way is to just enter zero in these fields and Dialog Design will find the size to fit.
Each line of text may be centered or left justified in the field.
Select either TStaticText or TColoredText here. With TColoredText, you will be given an opportunity to specify the color attribute for color displays
TColoredText
TColoredText is a descendant of TStaticText which allows the specification of text color for color displays. For black and white displays, TColoredText behaves identically to TStaticText. 2
See the following files for further information: D
Pascal C++
COLORTXT.INT TCOLORTX.DOC
A numerical color attribute may be entered here or, alternatively, you may push the Select button to select your colors from a color chart.
If 0 is entered for the width, Dialog Design will try to set the width to an appropriate value. In a few cases, especially if there is more than one column, the calculated result may not be satisfactory and you may do better by selecting your own width.
Check this box if a scrollbar is desired with the listbox.
Add a control to the dialogbox.
Add a TLabel control.
Labels must be attached to other controls. Before adding a label with this selection, be sure to select the control to which it will be attached. O
You can also attach a label to a control when adding or editing that control. 3
More than one label may be attached to a control.
The label's text goes here.
See also: 0
Entering
Non-Keyboard
Characters
Operator
Use this field to specify or change any label you want attached to this control. The field may be left blank if no label is desired.
See also: 0
Entering
Non-Keyboard
Characters
Operator
Inserting Control and other Non-Keyboard Characters
In some cases it may be desirable to enter line drawing or symbol characters into labels, etc. Here's how it can be accomplished:
Since many control characters are used as editing characters, to enter the actual control character, precede it with control P. For example, ^P^A enters control A, and ^P^P enters control P. ^M (Enter) and ^J (Line feed) cannot be entered.
Other non-keyboard characters can be entered by holding down the Alt key, pressing the 3 digit key code using the _Numeric_ keypad and then releasing the Alt key.
@ Operator
The '@' operator may be used almost anywhere text input is required to indicate a variable reference is desired rather than a quoted string. To indicate a variable reference, just enter '@' as the first character following it with the variable name.
As an example, suppose (for a TStaticText entry) you enter 'This is a line of text.' Dialog Design will generate code which looks like:
Control := New(PStaticText,
Init(R, 'This is a line of text.')); (*Pascal*)
control = new TStaticText(TRect(8, 3, 25, 4),
"This is a line of text."); //C++
But if you enter '@theText', you'll get code which looks like:
Control := New(PStaticText,
Init(R, theText)); (*Pascal*)
control = new TStaticText(
TRect(8, 5, 23, 6), theText); //C++
where 'theText' presumably refers to a string defined elsewhere.
Normally, when Dialog Design generates source code, it uses a generic PView/TView* named 'Control' to construct and insert the control. If you need to save a pointer to this control, you should specify your own variable symbol name here. Dialog Design will then use your selection and insert the name in a variable definition section.
Enter up to six additional parameters/etc for custom controls. To make use of this feature, you must alter one of the conversion programs to use the additional information.
The Options button will open up a dialog box allowing selection of the ofXXXX Option flags and the evXXXX Eventmask bits.
The Eventmask radio buttons have two settings:
( ) Default
Gives the default Eventmask for the particular control.
( ) Select
Allows the selection of a different Eventmask.
The Options radio buttons have two settings:
( ) Default
Gives the default settings for the particular control.
( ) Select
Allows the selection of options other than the defaults.
In most cases, you'll want to use the default selections. However, there are some special cases where other settings are desirble. Here's some of the more interesting ones:
[ ] ofFramed
When set the control will be framed.
[ ] ofSelectable
If not set the control can't be selected. For example, a TInputline could be made read only by turning off this bit. #
[ ] ofCenterX
[ ] ofCenterY
Force the control to be centered in the dialog box when inserted. This option might be desirable for the dialogbox itself to force centering in both 25 and 50 line modes. See Notes
Centering.
[ ] ofShoehorn
The high order bit of Options. While it doesn't have an official Borland use, it's used by Blaise' Turbo Vision Toolkit(R) to flag controls to be switched after the resource is loaded. It's included here for compatibility.
Notes on Frames
Frames are painted on the dialog's TFrame view which is on the bottom of the pack. Hence frames won't be visible in Design mode as they are then covered by the canvas background. Frames will become visible in Try mode. R
A simple frame may be added to a control by setting its ofFramed bit in Options.
More often you may want to frame several controls together. Here's now to do it. Add a blank static text control (no text) with the ofFramed bit set. Position and stretch this control over the controls to be framed so that it just covers them. Now, to get the control underneath, enter Ordering mode and click on the static text control. This will put it on the bottom so that the controls it frames will then be visible again.
Notes on Centering
The option bits ofCenterX and ofCenterY tell Turbo Vision to center the control in the X or Y direction when it's inserted into the dialogbox. However, there's nothing to stop you from dragging or resizing it once it's been inserted.
Dialog Design will recenter any control which has the centering options set whenever the control is edited or whenever Try mode is entered. A quick way to recenter controls, then, is to toggle into and out of Try mode.
Add a TInputLine control.
Enter the desired string width here. A zero entry results in a string width that just fits the fieldwidth.
Enter the desired field width here.
When using SetData() or GetData() with a TRangeValidator, you may transfer by String or LongInt. Make that selection here.
Enter the allowable characters for the TFilterValidator in Set form.
Some Examples:
['a'..'z', #$31]
['a','e','i','o','u']
Validator Selection
A validator may be selected for TInputline here. Once the selection is made, the validator button text will indicate the operation to be performed next.
Add
Press to open up an option dialogbox for the validator you wish to add.
Change
Press to open up an option dialogbox when changing to a different validator type.
Delete
Press to delete a previously added validator.
Edit
Press to edit previously entered options for a validator. .
You can check validator action in Try mode.
Enter the desired Picture String here. Picture string characters are:
# Accept only a digit
? Accept only a letter (either case)
& Accept only a letter, force to uppercase
@ Accept any character
! Accept any character, force to uppercase
; Take next character literally
* Repeat next item or group 0 or more times.
If followed by a number, repeat that many times.
[] Enclose options
brackets Enclose groups
, Separate items
All other characters taken literally
Examples:
@@*@ Two or more characters
[(###) ]###-#### Telephone number with optional area code
Red,B[lue,rown] Red,Blue, or Brown
$*#[.##] Currency
If the Auto Fill option is checked, non optional parts of the picture string will be filled in automatically.
Enter the name of a pointer to the string collection containing allowable string entries. Use 'Nil' here if you wish to use NewStringList to enter the collection at runtime.
Add a TInputLong control. r
The file INPLONG.PAS/.CPP supplied with Dialog Design contains the documentation and SOURCE code for TInputLong.
TInputLong is a descendant of TInputline designed for input of long integers. Since it has range checking, it can be used for Integer, Word or Byte input as well.
Enter the Lower and Upper limits. These limits will be checked when tabbing out of the control and when its Valid routine is called. .
To enter an hex number, preceed it with '$'.
[ ] Allow Hex
Allow hex input preceeded with '$' (Pascal) or '0x' (C++) and the letters, A..F.
[ ] Allow Blank
If this selection is checked, a blank field is allowed and interpreted as zero. (Note that zero must be within the lower and upper limits.)
Add a TMemo control.
Specify the memo's buffer size here. This will be the maximum number of characters that can be entered in the Memo. _
Note that within the Dialog Design program itself, buffers will be limited to 255 characters.
When Dialog Design writes source code for a dialogbox, it defines a record to be used with the dialogbox's SetData and GetData methods. This entry is the name for this control's field. Initially, a unique symbol of the form FieldXXX is generated here. You will probably want to change the symbol to something that better describes the field. i
Note that TMemo has two fields in the data record, one for the text length and one for the text itself.
Indicate whether a horizontal and/or vertical scrollbar should be included with the TMemo.
Add a horizontal scrollbar control.
Add a vertical scrollbar control.
Add a TListbox control.
Add a TButton control.
Add a TStaticText or TColoredText control.
Add a TCheckBoxes control.
Add a TMultiCheckBoxes control.
Add a TRadioButtons control.
Toggle to 'D' to disable a checkbox/radiobutton. 1
Toggle to 'E' to enable a checkbox/radiobutton. ?
If all items are disabled the control will not be selectable.
Enter the history ID number if a history list is desired. If 0 is entered, there will be no history list.
Bits Per Box
Checkbox Characters
Bits per box is the number of bits in the TMultiCheckbox's Value field assigned for each box.
The Checkbox characters are the characters that you wish to represent the checkbox states. Note that, as TMultiCheckboxes are toggled, the state is decremented. This means that if you want a sequence displayed as 1-2-3-4, you must enter the characters as '1432'. P
The Bits Per Box and maximum number of checkbox states are related as follows:
Bits Per Box Max States Max # Checkboxes
1 2 32
2 4 16
4 16 8
8 256 4
Move/Resize window (Ctrl F5)
After selecting this command, use the shift arrow keys to resize the window. To move the window use the arrow keys or ctrl arrow keys (larger increments). Enter accepts the changes, Esc aborts them. y
With the mouse, the window may be resized by dragging the lower left corner. It may be moved by dragging the title bar.
Choose one of the two Write source code commands (Operations Menu) to write source code for the dialogbox when the design is finished. You will then be given the choice of having the output go to a file or be displayed on the screen. Dialog Design then outputs a temporary script file and calls up the appropriate conversion program to perform the operation.
While the actual action of these conversion files may be customized, the programs supplied with Dialog Design do the following:
Type 1 source code.
The source code file consists of a function defining the dialogbox and a data record with fields appropriate for use with the SetData and GetData methods. This file may be included in TESTCASE.PAS/TESTCASE.CPP (at the line of *'s) to provide a program to test the dialog.
Type 2 source code. ^
For Pascal, the source code is in the form of a Unit defining a dialog derived from TDialog.
For C++, the source is in the form of an .H and .CPP file, defining a dialog derived from TDialog. Output is in a single file which contains a line, "cut here" showing where to divide the file.
Type 2 code is appropriate for descendents of TDialog requiring overridden methods. Be sure to change the dialog's Pointer Name/Class Name before generating the code.
Write Resource File y
Choose this command to create a resource file or add to an existing resource or EXE file. You will be asked for a filename (default extension, REZ) and also a resource ID string. (The ID string is case sensitive and may not contain any spaces.) Dialog Design will then output a temporary script file and call up the appropriate conversion program to perform the operation.
With the supplied conversion programs, if the file already exists, its extension will be changed to BKP, a copy made, and the resource added to the new copy. Any resource with the same ID will be deleted.
Choose this command to write an ASCII script either to a file or to the screen.
Load Pascal Resource
You can read Pascal TDialog resources from compatible resource files generated by Dialog Design or other design programs. You will be asked for the resource filename and then given a list of resource ID's from which to choose. k
Dialog Design will read only TDialog resources. In the read process, the following conversions are made: g
TListViewer to TListBox
TParamText to TStaticText
TView to TStaticText (with no text)
Note: You should always save your design in .DLG files. Storing them as resources and reading them as resources will result in loss of information.
Use this command to load a previously saved .DLG file.
Use this menu selection to merge a .DLG file into the current dialog. All controls from the merged file will be moved into the current dialog except for those completely outside the dialog's boundaries.
The Merge command allows commonly used controls (like Ok and Cancel buttons) to be predefined for easy inclusion into a new design.
Use the Save (F2) or Save As command to save your dialogbox design to disk.
This command will delete any current design (you will be given an opportunity to save it) and prepare Dialog Design for a new design.
This command brings up a dialogbox allowing you to change the current directory.
Shell to DOS with this command. To return to Dialog Design, type EXIT at the DOS prompt.
Bring up the Configuration dialog.
Select the language you wish to use.
[X] Toolbox On
Check if you want the toolbox on at startup.
[X] Load help context file
Check if you want a help context file to be loaded at startup. If so, you must specify the filename under Help context filename. "
See Help
Context
Definition
File
[X] Edit on double click
A control's edit dialog may be brought up by right clicking on it. Check here if you also want a left double click to perform the same function.
In order for Dialog Design to output source code or resources, it needs to know the location (full path) of the applicable conversion program. Up to six conversion programs may be listed here. These correspond to the Operations menu selections: F
Source code type 1
Source code type 2
Resource code
User
and the two language choices.
This command is reserved to call a user written conversion program. Details on how to write such a program are given in the file SCRIPT.DOC. The program name and path should be entered in the "User" space in the Options|Configuration dialog.
If you have checked Startup/Load help ctx filename, enter the desired filename here.
[Chdir ]
The Chdir button changes the current directory once you've selected or typed in a directory name.
[Revert]
The Revert button returns to the previous directory, as long as you haven't yet exited the dialogbox.
Ordering Mode
In Ordering Mode, you may define the Tab order of the controls in the dialogbox. To do this with the mouse, click on each control in the order in which you want them to be selected.
To define the order using the keyboard, Tab or ShiftTab to select the desired control and press Enter to enter it into the sequence.
While the order of non-selectable controls such as Labels and Static Text is not important, it may be convenient to order them also. c
When finished, use the F8 key to exit Ordering Mode. Be sure to check the tab order in Try
Mode.
Try Mode
Try Mode gives you the opportunity to try out the dialogbox. You can make temporary entries in the various fields and check out the Tab sequencing of the controls. H
Use the F9 key or click on the dialogbox's close box to exit Try Mode.
Toggle between the viewer window (if any) and the design dialog window.
Close the viewer window.
The number of text entries determines how many checkboxes/radiobuttons will be defined. C
The following special keys may be used within the list of labels: m
^N Insert a label
^Y Delete a label
UpArrow Move up a label
DnArrow Move down a label
See also: 0
Entering
Non-Keyboard
Characters
Operator
Ordering Mode (F8)
In Ordering Mode, you may define the Tab order of the controls in the dialogbox. To do this with the mouse, click on each control in the order in which you want them to be selected.
To define the order using the keyboard, Tab or ShiftTab to select the desired control and press Enter to enter it into the sequence.
While the order of non-selectable controls such as Labels and Static Text is not important, it may be convenient to order them also. c
When finished, use the F8 key to exit Ordering Mode. Be sure to check the tab order in Try
Mode.
COPYRIGHT Z
Documentation and program (C) Copyright 1990-4 by L. David Baldwin. All Rights Reserved. l
Dialog Design may be copied and distributed freely (including uploading it to bulletin boards), providing: R
1. No fee is charged and it is not part of a package for which a charge is made. ,
2. The package is not modified in any way.
If you do upload this package to a bulletin board, I'd appreciate it if you would make an attempt to keep the upload current. z
If you use Dialog Design professionally (to assist in program creation for your employer or for sale) please send $30 along with your registration to the appropriate address listed below. Registration entitles you to a free update to the most recent version or an update to the next release. No usage fee is required for hobbyists, students, beginners, ocasional users, etc.
Please report any problems, suggestions, etc. Contact me by Compuserve or Internet (the best way) or at one of the addresses below. T
Dave Baldwin
CompuServe ID #76327,53.
Internet address: 76327.53@compuserve.com
22 Fox Den Rd., (Approx May 15 to Oct 15)
Hollis, NH 03049
(603) 465-7857
144 13th St. East, (Approx Oct 15 to May 15)
Tierra Verde, FL 33715
(813) 867-3030
Modified HELPFILE.PAS from Peter Brandstrom's TVTOYS.ZIP.
Try Mode (F9)
Try Mode gives you the opportunity to try out the dialogbox. You can make temporary entries in the various fields and check out the Tab sequencing of the controls. You can also check the action of any validators associated TInputline's. H
Use the F9 key or click on the dialogbox's close box to exit Try Mode.
(.txt)